Are You Truly Born Again? Church Attendance And Good Works Do Not Save You

The author of confusion and the father of lies, continues to work in the minds of people all over the world. The mind is the devil’s battlefield and playground. He does not have to yell. The thoughts which he puts into the minds of people – especially church going people – are subtle and believable and sometimes nothing more than a whisper.

Perhaps he whispers this:

“Certainly you have done many more good deeds than you have bad deeds. God is looking for those who care greatly about their fellow man. This is enough to get you into heaven. Don’t listen to those who would bring you down and call you a sinner. You are righteous in the eyes of God – He sees your good works.”

This is the “Social Gospel.”

What is wrong with the above paragraph? Sounds good, doesn’t it? It may sound good, but it does not come from the Word of God – the Bible. It comes from the devil himself. He knows that his time is short, and he is working to bring many people with him to hell.

Our Good works before we are saved

Have you read from the Word what God thinks of our good works before we are born again?

“You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—In these ways we continue;And we need to be saved.

But we are all like an unclean thing,And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;We all fade as a leaf,And our iniquities, like the wind,Have taken us away.And there is no one who calls on Your name,Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;For You have hidden Your face from us,And have consumed us because of our iniquities” (Isaiah 64:5b-7).

We can not work our way to heaven

Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Are you a sinner?

When the original sin was committed in the Garden of Eden, and God sent Adam and Eve from the Garden; the sin nature fell upon us all. Some say “Well, I wasn’t there in the Garden!” But nevertheless, sin made its way into our flesh, and to this day we are born into sin.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Pride

I do believe that many are kept away from true Salvation because of pride. They don’t want to think of themselves as inherently bad people who need to be saved. So week after week, they attend their church services; some are active in many ministries and are at the front door of the church whenever it opens.

Why would God the Father send His only Begotten Son?

If we could save ourselves, why in the world would the Father send Jesus to die that horrific death upon the Cross? John the Baptist said of Him:

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

The Ten Commandments

The Lord gave Moses the Ten Commandments to show His holiness, His Righteousness; His perfection. But He also gave those Commandments to Moses to show us that we are not able to keep every Commandment. If we break one – we break them all.

The Old Testament was pointing the way to the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ. The OT is filled with prophecies about Jesus – many of which have been fulfilled to the letter. There are many to be fulfilled in the future. From the beginning, God knew that we were helpless. Why do you think that the Israelites were told to sacrifice a lamb on the altar for their sins?

But when Jesus came, He was the ultimate, perfect and final sacrifice for all of the sin in all of the world.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

The Most Important Question

God is asking you this day if you have repented of your sinful ways (agreed with God that you are a sinner) and have you trusted His Son Jesus for paying your sin debt, that you could never pay?

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). (Emphasis added)

It is not too late

You may have been attending the same church for many years. It is not too late to accept God’s free gift of Salvation right now!

“For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

If you feel that this article is speaking to your heart, then pray this prayer (or one just like it) to tell God that you are sorry that you thought that you could make it into heaven with Jesus:

“Father God, I come to You now as a sinner in need of You. I agree with Your Word that we all have sinned and cannot save ourselves. I ask that Jesus would come into my heart and make me righteous in Your eyes. I trust His death on the Cross and his Resurrection 3 days later as payment for my sin. Please make me the person You want me to be. For it is in the name of Jesus that I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed this prayer in sincerity, the angels in heaven are rejoicing! Welcome to the family of God!

God may even use you in your church to go forward and tell the congregation what has happened to you!